Coin dispenser magazine



1 April 1969 F K. TANAKA 3,435,833

COIN DISPENSER MAGAZINE Filed Sept. 22. 1967 Sheet of 2 K29 INVENTOR.

, [/6 FREBQER/CK K. 74 N4 M4 A TTOENE V5 April 1969 F. K. TANAKA3,435,833

COIN DISPENSER MAGAZINE Filed Sept. 22, 1967 Sheet 3 of 2 INVENTOR.

FREDEfi/CK K MAM/(A W 7%! F I E' E ATTORNEYS United States Patent3,435,833 COIN DISPENSER MAGAZINE Frederick K. Tanaka, Hayward, Califl,assiguor to Micro- Maguetic Industries, Inc., Palo Alto, Calif., acorporation of California Filed Sept. 22, 1967, Ser. No. 669,853 Int.Cl. G07d 1/06; B65h 3/44; G07f 11/00 US. Cl. 133-2 Claims ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE A coin dispenser magazine formed from an extruded ntegralbody with removable transparent index windows in each coin receivingtube and integrally extruded ribs by which the magazines may beconnected in multiple arrays.

Brief summary Coin dispensing magazines have been made heretoforeemploying a plurality of cylindrical tubes in which coins are stackedand removed from the tubes by a shuttle mechanism operated at the lowerends of the tubes. These mechanisms have been very expensive tomanufacture because of the number of parts employed in the devices andthe complexity of assembling the parts.

In accordance with this invention, I have provided a single extrusionwith which coin dispenser magazines may be made much more economicallyand which may be used for dispensing coin change in a wide variety ofmonetary values.

The device provides a removable index window in each cylindrical coinreceiving tube which may function to indicate the total value of moneystored in the tube but which may be removed to facilitate loading of thetubes.

Additionally, the extrusion is provided with special integrally extrudedlip swhich facilitate the connection together of the tubes in multipletube arrays.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following description read in conjunction with the attached drawingsin which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a coin dispenser employing amagazine of this invention with the magazine illustrated in phantomoutline in the position to which it is removed during removal of themagazine from the dispenser;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the dispenser;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of parts located at the lower end of a pairof tubes in the dispenser of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the plane indicated at 44 in FIG.2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the plane indicated at 55 in FIG.2;

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken along the plane indicated at6--6 in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view taken along the plane indicated at77 in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 8 is a detailed sectional view taken along the plane indicated at88 in FIG. 4.

Referring now in detail to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, thepreferred form of dispenser illustrated therein includes three extrudedmagazine modules 10, 12 and 14 which are adapted to be mounted in a coindispensed having a farme 16, dispensing chute 18 and solenoid operatedplunger 20.

The lower end of the magazine includes a plate 22 with a depending rearflange 24 and a pair of locking ears 26 by which the magazine is lockedinto the dispenser by a locking spring 28 after the rear flange 26 isengaged and the magazine tipped forward from the phantom position ofFIG. 1 to the full-line position of FIG. 1.

"The solenoid plunger 20 includes three separate sole- IlOlCl operated'plungers, one of which is illustrated at 29 in 6. The plunger 29carries a bracket 30 having a slot 1n 1ts upper side to receive adepending flange 32 of a COlIl dispensing shuttle plate 34. There arethree shuttle plates 34a, 34b, and 34c which are operated by the threeseparate solenoid plungers 29, and is explained in greater detailhereinafter, the shuttle plates 34 include apertures which operate toremove coins from the lower end of the 00111 dispenser tubes in knownmanner. With reference to FIG. 5, the tubular portions 10, 12 and 14 ofthe magazine are made from three separate extruded integral bodiespreferably made of aluminum. The body 10 includes a central backboneportion 36 and a pair of cylindrical portions 38 integrally formedtherewith and providing two coin receiving tubes. The cylindricalportions 38 have open sides 40 facing away from each other through whichcoins in the tube may be viewed and through which the coins in the tubemay be manipulated when the tubes are filled. The cylindrical portions38 also contain grooves in the opposite sides of the openings 40, and atransparent index strip 42 is slidably mounted in each of the openings40. The index strip 42 is calibrated along its length to indicate thevalue of a particular denomination of coins stacked up in the tube toany indicated level on the index strip. The index strip may be slid outof the grooves in which it is mounted from the top of the body 10 topermit an instrument to be inserted in the tube to lower coins into thetube when the tubes are to be filled.

A second pair of cylindrical portions 44 are integrally formed on thebackbone 36 and also carry open sides, grooves, and index strips 46 inthe same manner as the cylindrical portions 38. A third pair ofcylindrical portions 48 are integrally formed on the other side of thebackbone 36 and also carry open sides, grooves and index strips 50 asillustrated in FIG. 5. The cylindrical portions 44 and 48 are of greaterdiameter than the cylindrical portions 38 so that the cylindricalportions 38 may be used for storing dimes and each one of thecylindrical portions 44 and 48 may be used for storing either nickels orquarters. In this manner, one dollars worth of change may be dispensedfrom the body 10 by reciprocating the shuttle plate 34b through onestroke. As indicated in FIG. 4, the shuttle plate 34b contains twoopenings 52 for receipt of coins from the cylindrical portions 38, alarge double opening 54 for receiving coins from the cylindrical tubes44 and a large double opening 56 for receiving coins from thecylindrical portions 48. When the solenoid engaging the shuttle plate34b is operated, the shuttle plate 34b is moved to the right asillustrated in FIG. 4 to dispense one coin from the left-hand threecylindrical portions 38, 44 and 48, and when the solenoid isdeenergized, a spring (not shown) returns the shuttle plate to the leftto dispense one coin from each of the right-hand cylindrical members 38,44 and 48. The two cylindrical portions 38 are filled with dimes, one ofthe cylindrical portions 44 is filled with nickels, and the othercylindrical portion 44 and both cylindrical portions 48 are filled withquarters so that the change dispensed by a single operation of thesolenoid has a total value of one dollar.

In like manner, two additional modular extruded bodies 12 and 14 areprovided in the dispenser for dispensing change for fifty cents and aquarter, respectively. The shuttle plates 34a and 340 are provided withdouble openings 58 and 60, respectively, for dispensing the coins fromthe bodies 14 and 12.

The body 12 includes a backbone 62 with two integrally formedcylindrical portions 64, open sides 66, grooves in those open sides, andindex strips 68. The cylindrical portions 64 are of the larger diameterto accommodate quar- 3 ters so that two quarters are dispensed for eachoperation of the shuttle plate 340.

In like manner, the body 14 includes a backbone 70, cylindrical portions72 and 74 with open sides, grooves and index strips 76. The cylindricalportions 72 and 74 are initially formed to the diameter of thecylindrical portions 38 for accommodation of dimes, but the cylindricalportion 74 has been bent outwardly to a larger diameter to accommodatenickels. As best seen in FIG. 6, the shuttle plate 34a is sufficientlythick, and the lower edge of the cylindrical portion 72 is sufficientlyshaved that upon each cycle of the shuttle plate 34a, the dispenserdrops one nickel from cylindrical member 74 and two dimes fromcylindrical member 72.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, each of the bodies 10, 12 and 14 is providedwith a pair of ribs 80 curled back upon themselves to provide interiorchannels parallel to the cylindrical members and adjacent to the opensides of the cylindrical members. The extruded bodies 10, 12 and 14 areconnected together at their upper edges by spacers 82 and rivets '84extending through the spacers 82 into the channels in the ribs 80. Asillustrated in FIG. 4, the extruded bodies 10, 12 and 14 are rigidlymounted on the base plate 22 by means of screws 84 extending through thebottom plate 22 into the channels in the ribs 80. Spacers 86 areprovided around the screws 84 for providing clearance for operation ofthe shuttle plates 34 and also to provide stops for limiting the travelof the shuttle plates 34 in both directions.

While certain features and advantages of the invention have beenillustrated and described in detail herein, it is obvious that manymodifications thereof may be made without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A coin dispenser magazine comprising an extruded integral body havinga uniform cross-section along its length with said body having a centralbackbone portion extending along the length of said body, a pair ofcylindrical shell portions integrally formed with said backbone portionand spaced apart from each other by said backbone portion by a distancegreater than the largest radius of said cylindrical portions with eachof said cylindrical portions having an open side extending along thelength of said body and facing away from. the other cylindrical portionof said pair, and a pair of grooves in each of said cylindrical portion,and a transparent index strip slidably mounted in each pair of grooves.

2. A coin dispenser magazine comprising an extruded integral body havinga uniform cross-section along its length with said body having a pair ofgenerally parallel and cylindrical coin receiving channels extendingalong the length of said body and having open sides extending alongopposite sides of said body facing away from each other, a pair ofelongated ribs on said body at the adjacent edges of the open sides ofsaid channels with each of said ribs extending from said edge of theopen side of said channel outwardly from said edge and hence bentbackward upon itself to define a second pair of channels open at theirsides and substantially smaller in diameter than said coin receivingchannels with the axes of said second pair of channels lying in a planeparallel to and laterally spaced from the plane in which the axes ofsaid coin receiving channels lie whereby coins may be manipulated insaid coin receiving channels through the open sides thereof and saidbody may be joined to other structure and other similar bodies by screwsthreaded into said second pair of channels and whereby said entire bodycan be extruded through a die which has a single continuous interiorsurface,

3. The coin dispenser magazine of claim 2 characterized further by theinclusion of a second extruded integral body similar to the first bodyand having a pair of coin receiving channels similar to the coinreceiving channels of said first body and a pair of elongated ribssubstantially identical to the elongated ribs of said first body anddefining a second pair of channels substantially identical to the secondpair of channels of said first body and the second pairs of channels ofsaid first and second bodies positioned between the coin receivingchannels of said first and second bodies, plate means extending betweensaid first and second bodies across the ends of the second pairs ofchannels therein, and pin means extending through said plate means intosaid second pairs of channels of said first and second bodies forsupporting said bodies together as a single unit with two pairs of sideby side coin receiving channels which have open sides facing away fromeach other.

4. A coin dispenser magazine comprising an extruded integral body havinga uniform cross-section along its length with said body having a centralbackbone portion extending along the length of said body, a first pairof cylindrical shell portions integrally formed with said backboneportion and spaced apart from each other by said backbone portion by adistance substantially greater than the sum of the diameters of saidcylindrical portions with each of said cylindrical portions having anopen side extending along the length of said body and facing away fromthe other cylindrical portion of said first pair, a second pair ofcylindrical portions integrally formed with said backbone portion andspaced apart from each other by said backbone portion by a distancegreater than the largest radius of said second cylindrical portions withsaid second cylindrical portions spaced at one side of the planeconnecting the centers of said first cylindrical portions and with eachof said cylindrical portions having an open side extending along thelength of said body and facing away from the other cylindrical portionof said pair, a third pair of cylindrical portions integrally formedwith said backbone portion and spaced apart from each other by saidbackbone portion by a distance greater than the largest radius of saidthird cylindrical portions with said third cylindrical portions spacedon the opposite side of said plane from said second cylindrical portionsand with each of said third cylindrical portions having an open sideextending along the length of said body and facing away from the othercylindrical portion of said pair whereby said body includes sixcylindrical coin storage chambers with three of said chambers having anopen side facing toward each end of said body.

5. The coin dispenser magazine of claim 4 characterized further by theinclusion of a pair of grooves in each of said cylindrical portions withthe grooves of each pair mounted in opposite edges of the open side ofsaid cylindrical portion, and a transparent index strip slidably mountedin each pair of grooves.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,125,059 7/1938 Bachardy 13342,530,009 11/1950 Fields 1338 X 2,863,464 12/1958 Hewitt et a1 133l3,034,517 5/1962 Reiland 133-4 3,359,993 12/1967 Tryon et a1 1332STANLEY H. TOLLBERG, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 221-95,

